Ken Ludwig's Treasure Island

Winner! 2009 AATE Distinguished Play Award, Best Adaptation"Five Stars! Yo-ho-ho! A Festive Treat to Treasure. Hit Ahoy! X marks the spot of a bona fide festive treat! Treasure Island is the answer to every adventure-starved child's prayers: a racy, pacy, tough-as-old-boots adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckling classic! " -The TelegraphA stunning yarn of piracy on the tropical seas. At the center of it all are Jim Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who longs for
adventure, and the infamous Long John Silver, who is a complex study of
good and evil, perhaps the most famous hero-villain of all time.

TARGET AUDIENCE

PERFORMANCE GROUP

RECOGNITION / AWARDS

From West End

Winner! 2009 AATE Distinguished Play Award, Best Adaptation

Based on the masterful adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island is a stunning yarn of piracy on the tropical seas. It begins at an inn on the Devon coast of England in 1775 and quickly becomes an unforgettable tale of treachery and mayhem featuring a host of legendary swashbucklers including the dangerous Billy Bones (played unforgettably in the movies by Lionel Barrymore), the sinister two-timing Israel Hands, the brassy woman pirate Anne Bonney, and the hideous form of evil incarnate, Blind Pew. At the center of it all are Jim Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who longs for adventure, and the infamous Long John Silver, who is a complex study of good and evil, perhaps the most famous hero-villain of all time. Silver is an unscrupulous buccaneer-rogue whose greedy quest for gold, coupled with his affection for Jim, cannot help but win the heart of every soul who has ever longed for romance, treasure and adventure.

CASTING NOTES

Everyone except Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver doubles, variously, as the customers at the Admiral Benbow Inn, the sailors in Bristol, a lady at the dock, etc. The play can hold as many pirates as the producer can find - doubling can be eliminated or increased if the director can figure out a way to do it. The goal of the production should be wild, rollicking, frightening, breathless and moving. Any means to that end should be embraced, large cast or small. Additionally, there is a parrot in this play, who should not seem prominent or silly in any way.

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Ken Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright whose work is performed throughout the world in more than thirty countries and over twenty languages. He has written twenty-four plays and musicals, with six Broadway productions and seven in London’s West End. His Tony-winning play Lend Me A Tenor, was called "one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. His ... view full profile